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Fannin County commissioners approve series of routine actions including 911 upgrades and grant match
Summary
The Fannin County Board of Commissioners amended the agenda to add an LRA grant announcement and approved minutes, a land-use variance, six new chimpanzees for a local facility, a board appointment, rec center parking repairs, two 911 technology purchases and authorization for FY2025 budget amendments. Several items carried by voice vote.
The Fannin County Board of Commissioners met to consider routine business and several operational purchases, approving each item by voice vote.
The board first amended the agenda to add an LRA grant announcement and then approved the minutes of the regular meeting with no corrections. The board approved a variance request from James Sykes to place a 30-by-40 garage approximately 25 feet from the edge of a private one-lane road, after the applicant said he had already relocated water and power and cleared trees to make the site feasible.
The board accepted a request from Diana Stratton, the county director of operations, to receive six chimpanzees transferred from a Louisiana laboratory. "All of their health checks, just like in the past requests, were submitted," Stratton said, and the packet included a USDA health certificate and Georgia Department of Natural Resources documentation. She told commissioners the facility currently houses 99 animals and has capacity up to 150.
Commissioners appointed Steven Merrickle to the Fannin County Economic Development Authority Board for a three-year term following interviews by the Development Authority. Staff said the county is working to post board openings on the county website to increase public awareness.
Recreation Director Eddie O'Neil presented a Johnson Paving quote for crack sealing and restriping the rec center's left parking area to restore faded markings and add handicap spaces lost to construction; the board approved funding to proceed.
The board approved two 911-related purchases brought by 911 Director Bill Huffman: a RapidSOS software and five-year service contract quoted at $172,919.35 to improve automatic mobile caller location, multilingual translation and text-to-911 capability, and a $44,324 server upgrade and subscription to maintain 911 line and radio recording functions. Huffman said the RapidSOS service can show a caller's location on county maps and transcribe calls to reduce dispatcher typing.
CFO Sherry Walker asked for authority to execute FY2025 audit-driven budget amendments to reflect accruals and adjustments tied largely to public works spending, a new building lease and increased library spending; the board authorized her to make those amendments.
Finally, the board approved accepting a $300,000 LRA grant that requires a 30% local match. The packet and motion allocated $90,000 from SPLOST as the local share.
The meeting moved toward public comment and the chair indicated the possibility of an executive session next.
